Miss Black Alabama USA 2011 LeNa Ferguson-Powe of Birmingham teaches science and math to middle school students at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Birmingham. She's also an accomplished ballerina and will compete for the Miss Black USA 2011 next August. (The Birmingham News / Tamika Moore)

When LeNa Ferguson-Powe recently won Miss Black Alabama USA 2011, people asked her how they should address her.

Was she royalty? Was she a beauty queen?

Ferguson-Powe, who has won titles in other pageants through the years, had a simple answer: "Hey, I'm LeNa. How are you?"

"I figure I will always be LeNa," she said. (It's pronounced Le-NAY). "My last name may change. My title may change, but I'll always be LeNa. Right now I have a little added jewelry. But other than that, I'm just LeNa."

She was crowned Miss Black Alabama USA 2011 in August at the Fairfield Civic Center. Next August, she will compete in Washington for Miss Black USA, a scholarship pageant program that started in 1986 as a way to highlight leadership among African-American women.

In a way, Ferguson-Powe, 25, of Birmingham, is already leading young people in the community.

By day, she teaches math and science to middle school students at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Birmingham. At night, she teaches dance and is helping a contestant prepare to compete in the Miss Alabama pageant.

She's also an accomplished ballerina, who has danced with the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre, the Alabama Ballet and the Aarova Contemporary Dance Co.

In December, she will continue touring with "The Chocolate Nutcracker," a national production that puts an urban twist on The Nutcracker in order to expose different dance forms to children. She appeared in the production earlier this month when it was presented at Boutwell Auditorium.

"LeNa has worked hard in her training. I think she's an excellent performer," said Ava Wise, programs director for Project Hopewell, which brought "The Chocolate Nutcracker" to Birmingham. "I think she's a great role model for young girls, definitely."

Ferguson-Powe will also choreograph a dance for students as part of a Dec. 16 Christmas program at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Fairfield, where she is a parishioner.

On a recent Monday night, Ferguson-Powe met with students from St. Mary's School of Performing Arts, which is part of her church. She showed them her crown and taught them a ballet class. The students held onto her every word.

LeNa shows a student at St. Mary's School of Performing Arts in Fairfield the proper way to position her feet for ballet. (The Birmingham News / Chanda Temple)

"I like her as my dance teacher because she can teach us new dances that we don' t know and she always looks pretty," said Makayla Gordon, 7, of Fairfield.

Ferguson-Powe, who said she's been dancing since she was 18 months old, developed her love for the arts by watching her mother, Casi Ferguson-Powe, rehearse for Town and Gown Theatre productions.

Casi Ferguson-Powe said dance is her daughter's passion.

"Even as an infant, I didn't have to worry about putting on cartoons. I could put on Fred Astaire and musicals with great costumes and put her in her little chair and she'd watch," said Casi Ferguson-Powe. "I'm just pleased there was an art that she ended up loving. Seeing her dance is quite amazing."

Miss Black Alabama USA 2011 LeNa Ferguson PoweMiss Black Alabama USA 2011 LeNa Ferguson Powe teaches middle school students about math and science by day. At night, she teaches ballet and other forms of dance. She will compete for Miss Black USA in August 2011 in Washington.

LeNa Ferguson-Powe is committed to the classroom, the dance room, the community and her church.

"The great thing about growing up and having a Catholic education is that it really influenced a lot of things that I chose to do, education wise and community service wise," she said. "It's always great to go back to .¤.¤. the foundation that I got during my Catholic education that really made me the person that I am. It influenced me to teach within the system."

She graduated from John Carroll High School, has undergraduate and masters degrees from the University of Alabama, plays the piano and continues to take ballet lessons from Monica Barnett-Smith of Exclusively Ballet and Jazz in Shelby County.

She's also competed in the Miss Alabama pageants, starting in 2006 with preliminary pageants. She was Miss Tuscaloosa in 2007, Miss Trussville in 2008 and Miss Fountain City (representing Prattville) in 2009.

When she "aged out" of the Miss Alabama program by age 23, she thought her days of competition were over. She looked forward to the next stage in her life -- working as an intern for Alabama Sen. Linda Coleman.

"Pageants were never my life, however, they did bring a lot to my life,'' she said.

But after having friends compete in the Miss Black USA system and learning that Alabama would have a preliminary contest in August, she entered the Miss Black Alabama USA pageant.

Lana Thompkins, public relations coordinator in the Miss Black USA system, said that African-American women wer not allowed to compete in mainstream pageants at one time and the Miss Black USA pageant was developed to allow the women to participate. Even though the first African-American Miss America was crowned in 1983, there was still a need for the Miss Black USA pageant.

She said the Miss Black USA pageant remains relevant today and serves as a role model to girls.

More than 80 percent of the pageant participants are in graduate school or are professionals. "We like to call our young women the next generation of first ladies, the next generation of Michelle Obamas,'' Thompkins said. "They are smart, they are intelligent and beautiful.''

As Miss Black Alabama USA, Ferguson-Powe talks about diabetes awareness and prevention, her platform, during her public appearances. She said that when a father figure died of the disease in 2007 she changed her overall pageant platform from the importance of children having an academic and artistic education, to diabetes awareness. She also developed a children's activity book on the disease for her appearances.

"Seeing the affects diabetes had on him ... changed my life and the dynamics of my family," she said. "You see how it affects someone's life and you really want to do what you need to do."

She said she's raised more than $20,000 over the last three years for diabetes

LeNa Ferguson-Powe reviews fractions and word problems with some of her seventh-grade students at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Fairfield. (The Birmingham News / Tamika Moore)

awareness and research.

Part of her goal in competing in pageants has been to secure scholarship money. Between 2006 and 2009, she won about $21,000 in scholarship money as part of the Miss America program.

Another reason she participates in pageants is the ability it provides her to give back to the community and present a positive image for others, something she learned from relatives, including her 90-year-old grandfather who played for the Birmingham Black Barons.

When Ferguson-Powe makes appearances, 4-year-old girls ask to see what they call, "the basket," on top of her head. Ferguson-Powe happily obliges, showing them her crown. She said the crown and title of Miss Black Alabama USA give her a voice to reach a wider audience and encourage people.

LeNa Ferguson-Powe will be one of the 2011 contestants in the Miss Black USA competition next year. The main prize is valued at more than $20,000. It will include a walk-on role on Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns,'' a $10,000 wardrobe from celebrity designer B Michael America, a $5,000 cash scholarship and more. (The Birmingham News / Tamika Moore)

"In no way does it make me more accomplished than anyone else," she said.

"It just means I had the opportunity to do more for someone else. I have the chance to have some community service opportunities that others don't have and talk about diabetes, and tell young people the benefits of having both an academic and artistic education."